Cloverfield
Monday, January 21st, 2008
by Jeff
Remember what going to the movies was like before the Internet? No spoilers, no script leaks, no spy pictures of shooting, and no way to know what trailers would be playing before what movie. Well not only has the Internet changed all that, it’s also given us free porn. I digress.
I knew going in that the new Star Trek teaser trailer would be playing before “Cloverfield”, and being the trekkie that I am (I’m old school, so I’m not a trekker), I was probably the only one in the theater that knew what we were about to see during the trailers when the Paramount and Bad Robot logos appeared on screen.
The trailer opens with a welder in goggles, well, welding something. It’s followed by quick shots of something big being constructed on Earth. The sounds of JFK and NASA communication from the 60’s plays over these shots, followed by Leonard Niimoy saying the famous words “Space. The Final Frontier,” as the camera pans up to reveal the saucer section of The Enterprise being constructed. It fades to the Starfleet logo as the first few notes of the Trek theme play, finishing with the words “UNDER CONSTRUCTION.” Nice!
I’m sure the Trek fanboys will freak about some things, like the Enterprise being built on Earth not in space, and oh no! The font used for the Enterprise name on the hull is not the same! Let’s get over that people. Let J.J. Abrams do his thing, and pass judgement after you watch the movie, which I’m sure you will. Personally, if the movie lives up to the stylistic portrayal of Star Trek we see in this itty bitty teaser, I will be a happy Trek fan.
The trailer should be online at the official movie site after this weekend.
So to review, here’s my must see movies in 2008:
And it’s only January.
EDIT:
The trailer has now been released on the official site, as well as a viral marketing campaign at www.ncc-1701.com Here’s the trailer in case you don’t want to go hunt it down:
Sunday, January 20th, 2008
by Jeff
I got this email from Andrea off the radio station website:
I never write but…I turned down the volume when movie mom talked about “Clover Field” (while you left the room thinking it would be fun) and then went to see the movie on Sat. knwing nothing w/ my husband…and we HATED it!! It was such a rip off…it was a cross between Godzilla, War of the Worlds, World Trade Center, & Blair Witch Project…Cover Field was so unoriginal, predictable & a huge disappointment…I had a headache when I left & am getting another one just thinking about it again…that movie sucked so bad & it was a huge waste of $$$ Tell Lori & Meredith not to see it, they’d hate it too. Have a nice day:-)
I expected some reaction like this. It’s a movie that a select few really get. Oh well. I’m sure there’ll be a Dodgeball 2 someday.
Saturday, January 19th, 2008
by Jeff
WARNING: If you haven’t seen “Cloverfield” yet, I recommend you come back and read this after you do. You’ll thank me.
I’m not one to usually avoid spoilers on movies. With all three Star Wars prequels I was on every single spoiler site I could find. When I saw the teaser trailer for “Cloverfield” over the summer, I knew this was a movie I wanted to know nothing about. I even went so far as to leave the studio when we did our weekly movie review segment with Movie Mom on The Q Morning Show. I was taking this seriously. Seeing how the creative mind of J.J. Abrams works with “Lost,” I knew that if I found out too much about this movie, the experience he wanted to create for his audience would be lost on me. It wasn’t easy, but I managed to pull it off and saw “Cloverfield” spoiler free. I am so glad I did.
Let me say before all else, if you have a tendency for motion sickness, you might want to take some Dramamine before going to see this. I was fine, but my wife felt pretty sick after it was over. “Cloverfield” is shot as if it were all done with a camcorder, a la “Blair Witch Project” but rather then running with a camera to avoid a witch, these people are running from some sort of monster that is attacking Manhattan.
The movie begins with a message from the U.S. Government telling us what we are about to see is from a videotape found in the area formerly known as Central Park. The tape is non-linear since we later find out scenes are intercut because the tape has been recorded over in several places. It’s an ingenious way to tell backstories. After establishing a mid-twenties guy named Rob having a relationship with a woman, it jumps ahead several months to a going away party for Rob, who is taking a job in Japan. Subtle. Japan, the land of Godzilla. The party is interrupted when a massive earthquake type event hits Manhattan, followed by a huge explosion downtown. Everyone flees to the streets where an object flies through the air, crash landing in the street. It’s the head of the Statue of Liberty in the scene that became the viral marketing campaign on You Tube this summer. From there all hell breaks loose.
Rob is separated from the girl he is in love with and of course had a major fight with just before the star of the show started tearing buildings down. He convinces the people he is fleeing with that he must find this girl by going right into monster ground zero. He is so determined at one point that he starts to get annoying. Why exactly are these people so intent on following him? He’d only been seeing this girl for six months and she’ll probably be dead by the time he gets there anyway. I would be getting the hell out of there.
One of the scariest scenes of the movie happens in the subway tunnels as the military is fighting the monster above. Our fearless Rob is leading everyone through pitch black darkness trying to find a save place to exit when they notice things moving under their feet. After turning the light on the video camera on, they discover hundreds of rats moving away from…something. That something is behind them and making some sort of evil noise. After turning around activating the night vision on the camcorder, they discover they are being followed by creepy crawly crab/fish like things that are on the ground and the ceiling. Then they attack. Intense scene! if you have every played Half Life, picture the head crabs on steroids. Everyone manages to escape with their lives from the attack, but one woman is bitten by the crab/fish things. She eventually dies from it in a very cool way.
Rob and what’s left of his gang manage to climb to the 45th floor of the apartment building of Rob’s girl to rescue her. Oh did I mention this apartment building is tipped on its side leaning against another building? This is where I would have said “screw you guys, I’m going home,” but everyone follows crazy Rob without much question.
At the end of the movie at lot of questions go unanswered: Where did the monster come from? Does the monster die? What’s left of Manhattan? Why is the movie called “Cloverfield?” Leaving an audience to answer questions on their own is the style of J.J. Abrams. Apparently it’s a style the audience I was with didn’t like very much, based on the groans I heard when the lights came up and one punk kid shouting “That sucked!” Thanks kid. And thanks for text messaging with your bright phone display shining in my eyes for the entire movie too.
“Cloverfield” breaks all the rules of the typical movie. It is a very immersive experience. The superb special effects, the excellent sound effects, and the amazing photography make you feel like you are running away from this monster with these characters. This movie for me wasn’t so much about trying to sympathize with the characters as wanting to find out what was going on with this monster. That is what makes this your no-so-everyday monster movie, because you aren’t watching a movie. You’re watching a videotape that was found after a devastating attack on New York that documents the events, and are left to draw your own conclusions as to what happened. That’s right people, you aren’t going to be spoon fed anymore. You have to do a little brain work. It should make for good water cooler talk on Monday.
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007
by Jeff
It’s the movie I’m most excited for during holiday blockbuster season, and the trailer has just been released on Apple Trailers. Go check out the trailer now, and afterwards take a look at the teaser trailer too taking note of the head of the Statue of Liberty that lands in the street. Notice the difference between the two? Clearly when they put the teaser out they were still working on the CGI. The newer trailer looks 100% better.
Even after seeing the trailer, there’s still so much that they don’t tell you about this movie which makes me want to see it even more. That’s a nice change from the trailers that give away all the major plot points or all the funny jokes.
I’ll be in line on 1-18-08 for this one. Better let the in-laws know they’ll be babysitting.
Apple – Trailers – 01-18-08
Friday, November 2nd, 2007
by Jeff
I can’t wait until January 18th! That’s when J.J. Abrams, who is the genius behind Lost, releases his latest movie. There’s no official title yet, but the rumors are it will be called Cloverfield. I have no idea what that title means, and really don’t have much information on what it’s about. Therein lies the genius of J.J. Abrams!
Lost always has you guessing, and J.J. is doing the same thing with this movie. It’s frustrating as hell, but it only makes me want to see this movie more! Just check out the official website for it and you’ll see what I mean.
The marketing for this movie is pure genius. A trailer shows up on You Tube for a movie that shows 20-somethings having a party for a friend. It gets interrupted by a horrific noise and a huge explosion in downtown Manhattan, followed by the head of the Statue of Liberty landing in a street. I’m hooked!
(EDIT: I’m having a hell of a time getting the youtube video to embed here in the page, so just click here to see the trailer)
The original trailer on You Tube appeared to be shot with a camcorder in a theater, but has since been taken down. I’m pretty sure this was all set up by the studio to start this viral marketing campaign. For the weeks that followed, this trailer was the hottest buzz on every movie blog on the net. Now the teaser poster has been released which is just adding fuel to the fire.It appears to be a monster destroys New York movie. New York can’t catch a break in the movies. It was destroyed in Independence Day, Deep Impact, The Day After Tomorrow, Godzilla and that really bad made for TV movie Aftershock: Earthquake in New York. Those are just the ones I can think of! I suppose destroying Lubic, Texas just doesn’t make for good movies.
A lot of my movie viewing experience in the next few years is riding on J.J. Abrams. Transformers was very good, Cloverfield looks fantastic, and he’s about to start shooting the next Star Trek movie which hopes to revive the franchise. I certainly hope so! Don’t disappoint me with these movies J.J. I’ve watched Star Trek 1 through 6 so many times I can practically recite the script from beginning to end. Time for new material.
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Remember what going to the movies was like before the Internet? No spoilers, no script leaks, no spy pictures of shooting, and no way to know what trailers would be playing before what movie. Well not only has the Internet changed all that, it’s also given us free porn. I digress.
